kenz.dev

Kenz Naicker, AI integration engineer in Cape Town · 15+ years in technology

I connect AI to the systems businesses already run.

C#/.NET and Node developer building AI agents that work in production, on real databases with real guardrails. I use Claude to move fast, and I review every line before it ships.

  • .NET / C#
  • Node.js
  • Claude
  • SQL Server
  • PostgreSQL
  • Azure
  • React / Next.js
  • PHP

Open to remote roles, with full overlap with UK and EU working hours

Ask about Kenz

Answers come from his CV and case studies

Pick a question below or type your own. If the answer isn't in his work history, it will say so.

Try asking

No salary talk and no client details. For anything else, email Kenz directly.

You might ask

What has he actually built?

Here's what's running today

Selected work

Real products running for real users. Client names are kept private.

Featured AI product, live with two clients

Mr Bear: ask your database in plain English

Business owners had their data in a database but needed a developer for every question. Mr Bear connects to the database, learns the schema, and answers questions like “What was our profit last quarter?” directly in a chat window.

  • Semantic layer of verified business SQL recipes, so answers match how the business actually calculates things.
  • SQL Gate, a SELECT-only bridge: the AI can read data but can never change it.
  • Two industries: financial reporting for one client, stock tracking across boat build locations for another.
See real questions and answers
  1. Someone asks a question“What was our profit last quarter?”
  2. Claude reads the semantic layer“Profit” maps to the verified P&L recipe
  3. SQL Gate checks the queryOnly SELECT gets through. Read, never write.
  4. The answer comes back in chatResults from the client's database, in Open WebUI

Personal AI assistant, built in Node.js

JARVIS: a personal assistant on Telegram

A personal tool Kenz built for his own workday, not a client product. It lives in Telegram, so it's always one message away.

  • Morning briefing every day, pulling from Jira, his calendar and AI news.
  • Plain-English bookkeeping through a QuickBooks Online integration (OAuth), in progress.
  • Built on the Telegram Bot API, with Claude doing the language work.
  • Node.js
  • Telegram Bot API
  • Claude
  • Jira API
  • QuickBooks API

Pet project, free and live now

Cutlist Optimizer

Kenz's own pet project: a free web tool that packs parts onto stock sheets to find the most efficient way to cut them, so less material goes to waste. It runs entirely in the browser, so you can try it right now.

  • JavaScript
  • GitHub Pages
Try the Cutlist Optimizer
You might ask

What's his background?

15+ years in technology, from IT support to AI in production

Experience

Startups, agencies, manufacturing and global analytics. The current employer is kept private.

  1. 2022 – now

    Mid-level C#/.NET Developer

    Global market research company · promoted from junior in December 2024

    Full-stack features on a global analytics platform: C#/.NET APIs, React and Next.js front ends, and Azure services. Lifted unit test coverage above 80%, helped reduce cloud costs, and leads how the team adopts AI tools as its AI Ambassador.

  2. 2019 – 2022

    Full Stack Developer

    Duroplastic Technology

    Owned the company's web-based ERP system, built internal tooling, and ran the company websites and internal application deployments.

  3. 2018 – 2019

    Software Developer

    STK Advisory Connect

    Built a platform that automated wealth and estate documents for insurance companies, iterating quickly to meet financial industry standards.

  4. 2017

    IT Technician

    Bytes Technology

    Delivered technology solutions for clients of a multinational IT services company.

  5. 2015 – 2016

    Junior Developer

    Rone Webtech

    Developed and administered a large HTML5 and ColdFusion ERP application used by five enterprise retail clients.

  6. 2008 – 2015

    Junior Developer

    Ignition Group

    Implemented platforms that captured customer data the business couldn't reach before, supporting data-driven decisions across divisions.

You might ask

Does he just let AI write his code?

No. Here's how he works with it

How I use AI

Fast where it's safe to be fast, careful where it counts.

Let it write the boring parts

Scaffolding, boilerplate and first drafts come from Claude, so my time goes into design decisions and edge cases.

Review it like someone else's PR

Nothing ships until I can explain every change. If I can't, I keep asking why until I can.

Know when to write it myself

Security boundaries and business rules I write by hand first. The SQL Gate in Mr Bear is one example.

You might ask

Any certifications?

Always sharpening the toolkit

Certifications and learning

  • 2024Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900)Microsoft certification
  • 2019MIT 6.006 Introduction to AlgorithmsMIT OpenCourseWare
  • 2019Data Structuresmycodeschool
  • 2014PHP DevelopmentGet Certified
  • 2011MS SQL Server 2008Bytes Technology